NOTE 17. SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

In 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted, and stockholders approved, the Journey Medical 2015 Stock Plan (the “Plan”) authorizing the Company to grant up to 4,642,857 shares of Common Stock to eligible employees, directors, and consultants in the form of restricted stock, restricted stock units (“RSUs”), stock options and other types of grants. The amount, terms, and exercisability provisions of grants are determined by the Board of Directors. At the Company’s 2022 Annual Meeting, held on June 21, 2022, the Company’s stockholders approved, among other matters, an amendment to the Plan to increase the number of shares of Common Stock issuable under the Plan by 3,000,000 to 7,642,857. As of September 30, 2022, 1,142,620 shares were available for issuance under the Plan.

Total compensation cost charged against operations related to the above plan for the three-month periods ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 was $1.4 million and $7,810, respectively. Total compensation cost charged against operations related to the above plan for the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 was $3.0 million and $40,316, respectively. The following table summarizes the components of share-based compensation expense in the consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2022 and 2021:

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Stock Options

The following table summarizes the Company’s stock option activities:

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For the three-month period ended September 30, 2022, the Company issued 22,500 shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of outstanding stock options and received proceeds of $31,275. For the three-month period ended September 30, 2021, the Company did not issue any shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of outstanding stock options. For the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company issued 155,649 and 10,000 shares, respectively, of Common Stock upon the exercise of outstanding stock options and received proceeds of $142,330 and $6,800, respectively. For the three-month periods ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, approximately $0.4 million and $7,811, respectively, of stock option compensation cost was charged against operations. For the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, approximately $0.4 million and $40,316, respectively, of stock option compensation cost was charged against operations. As of September 30, 2022, the Company had unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to all unvested options of $2.4 million, which the Company expects to recognize over a weighted-average period of approximately 2.5 years.

Restricted Stock Units

For the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2022, the Company issued 63,666 and 170,666 shares of Common Stock, respectively, upon the vesting of RSU’s amounting to $235,239 and $628,039, respectively, in total aggregate fair market value. The Company did not issue any shares of Common Stock upon the vesting of RSU’s for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2021. For the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2022, approximately $1.1 million and $2.6 million, respectively, of RSU compensation cost was charged against operations. For the three and nine-month periods ending September 30, 2021, zero cost for RSU compensation was charged against operations as the unvested RSUs for these periods contingently vested upon the Company’s IPO on November 12, 2021. The Company charged $2.4 million against operations relating to the vesting of these awards in the fourth quarter of 2021. At September 30, 2022, approximately 2,401,589 of RSU’s remained unvested and there was approximately $6.0 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to RSUs, which the Company expects to recognize over a weighted-average period of approximately 2.0 years.

The following table summarizes the activity related to the Company’s RSUs for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2022:

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